UNC Wilmington Athletics

Cindy Ho's Honors at UNCW

---

Cindy Ho, a recognized national leader in developing top-flight young golfers, enters her 21st season as head coach at UNCW and her 31st overall in the collegiate ranks in 2022-23.

In a coaching career that has spanned three decades at Longwood and UNCW, the Victoria, B.C., native has guided her teams to 31 tournament wins, seven conference championships and nine NCAA appearances. She has mentored 46 All-Conference performers, five Conference Player-of-the-Year selections and four Rookie-of-the-Year honorees.

Ho’s student-athletes have also excelled in the classroom. A group of 25 players have earned Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar accolades 55 times and five Seahawks have been named Colonial Athletic Association Scholar-Athlete-of-the-Year.

A six-time league Coach-of-the-Year honoree, including twice in the Big South Conference and four times in the CAA, Ho’s teams have been annual contenders on the national scene.

UNCW competed in 10 tournaments in 2021-22, winding up with three top-5 finishes. The Seahawks’ best finish was a third place standing in their debut at the William & Mary Invitational and the CAA Championships in Southport, N.C.

The Seahawks posted their second-lowest scoring average (299.6) over 24 rounds of play. Freshman Malu Brinker paced the squad with a 73.95 stroke average - a freshman record - over 21 rounds. Mallory Fobes set school records with 85 birdies, four eagles and nine rounds of par or better. She tied her own school record with a 6-under-par 66 on two occasions.

Coach Ho's Seahawks navigated through a difficult 2020-21 campaign to compete in four tournaments, including a sixth-place showing at the River Landing Classic. The Seahawks had a pair of student-athletes earn All-Colonial Athletic Association recognition from the league's head coaches. Sophomore Mallory Fobes took home First-Team honors, while junior Phu Khine was a Second-Team All-CAA selection. 

While the Seahawks saw a premature end to their 2019-20 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they still had a productive campaign with four top-10 finishes, including a pair of top-5 efforts. UNCW earned the River Landing Classic title for the fourth time in the event's 20-year history after rallying from a nine-stroke deficit in the final round with a school-record 282 team score. In addition, the Seahawks placed fifth at the Reynolds Lake Oconee Invitational and had top-10 efforts at the Golfweek Program Championship and Furman Paladin Invitational. 

During the 2018-19 season, Ho guided a young group of Seahawks to the Colonial Athletic Association title with a dominating wire-to-wire performance at St. James Plantation. Led by Khine, who claimed individual medalist honors and was the league's Rookie of the Year, UNCW won the tournament by 17 strokes over Delaware to receive the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Championship field. 

Ho directed the Seahawks to a third-place finish at the CAA Championship in 2016-17 in addition to top five efforts at the William & Mary Invitational and the River Landing Classic. Junior Lyberty Anderson headlined a trio of All-CAA selections after winning the individual title at the CAA Championship to earn First-Team honors while sophomore Ellinoora Moisio and freshman Thao My Nguyen received Second-Team notice. 

Under Ho’s tutelage, the Seahawks opened their 2015-16 schedule by winning their first tournament in nearly three years by claiming the William & Mary Invitational in wire-to-wire fashion. UNCW went on to post a sixth-place finish at the Notre Dame Clover Cup before earning fourth place at the CAA Championship.

Senior Annette Lyche claimed First-Team All-CAA honors for the third consecutive year while freshman Ellinoora Moisio garnered the league’s Rookie-of-the-Year award. A group of four student-athletes, including Lyche, Meghan Theiss, Alaina Yeatts and Kayla Thompson, were also recognized as All-American Scholars by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association.

The Seahawks posted four top-10 finishes during the 2014-15 campaign, including a season-best fourth place effort at the William & Mary Invitational. UNCW also turned in a fifth place showing at the UNCG Forest Oaks Fall Classic in addition to a sixth place performance at the CAA Championship. Lyche earned First-Team All-CAA accolades for the second straight season after pacing the Seahawks with a 75.04 scoring average.

In 2013-14, senior Lori Beth Adams capped a brilliant career by making her fourth consecutive post-season appearance at the NCAA East Regional in Tallahassee, Fla. She joined Lyche as a First-Team All-CAA selection after tying for second individually at the CAA Championships. In addition, Theiss earned Second-Team All-CAA honors and Laverry Kumar and Jeanne Metivier collected WGCA All-Scholar accolades.

Adams was the CAA’s top player in 2012-13 as well, collecting CAA Player-of-the-Year honors and winding up second in the CAA Championships as the Seahawks finished runner-up. She earned an individual entry into the NCAA Central Regional and placed eighth overall in Norman, Okla. Metivier also collected WGCA All-American Scholar accolades.

Ho piloted the Seahawks to their second straight CAA crown and NCAA appearance in 2011-12. She was named CAA Coach-of-the-Year for the second straight season and had three players – Adams, Kumar and Sofia Hagsund - all received All-CAA laurels. In addition, the program was recognized with a third straight NCAA Public Recognition Award for placing among the top 10 percent nationally for its work in the classroom and Hagsund and Metivier earned WGCA All-American Scholar recognition.

The 2010-11 season saw Ho guide a youthful Seahawks lineup that featured five freshmen and seven underclassmen to the program's third CAA title in five seasons. Individually, Hagsund and Kumar were both All-CAA selections, while Hagsund and freshman Whitney Rhodes earned All-American Scholar status from the NGCA. 

UNCW enjoyed a solid 2009-10 season as the Seahawks captured their third UNCW Lady Seahawk Classic and posted three other top-three finishes. The team also enjoyed individual success when Hagsund earned First-Team All-CAA accolades and senior Carmen Perez-Narbon garnered Second-Team All-CAA honors to become only the second player in school history to earn All-CAA recognition all four seasons. In addition, Hagsund nailed down an individual invitation to the NCAA East Regional, becoming just the fourth player in program history to receive an individual invitation to post-season play.

Hagsund and Ashley Tait were named WGCA All-American Scholar honors following the conclusion of the 2009-10 campaign.

The Seahawks closed out the 2008-09 season one stroke short of capturing their third straight CAA Championship. Perez-Narbon collected medalist honors in the conference championships to become the second player in the program’s history to win the individual title at the event. The Spaniard was recognized as CAA Player-of-the-Year for the second time in three years when she also garnered First-Team All-CAA honors for the third straight season. Ashley Tait joined Perez-Narbon as a First-Team All-CAA honoree and was named the CAA's Women's Golf Scholar-Athlete-of-the-Year.

The 2007-08 campaign saw Ho pilot the Seahawks to their second straight CAA crown as they overcame a two-stroke deficit in the final round to defeat nationally-ranked Georgia State. UNCW made its sixth NCAA Regional appearance in seven years and capped the season by posting the highest NCAA finish in program history.

Perez-Narbon and Tait were recognized as First-Team All-CAA performers, while Stephanie Noser was a Second-Team All-CAA honoree, In addition, Perez-Narbon was named to the NGCA All-Region team for her ninth-place finish at the NCAA East Regional. In addition, Liana Viljoen was selected CAA Scholar Athlete-of-the-Year for the second straight season.

In 2006-07, UNCW, previously an associate member in women’s golf in the Big South Conference, made its first trip to the championship podium as a member of the CAA. The squad garnered a host of individual honors; Ho was named CAA Coach-of-the-Year, and Perez-Narbon was tabbed First-Team All-CAA, CAA Player-of-the-Year and CAA Rookie-of-the-Year. Emily Klein joined Perez-Narbon on the First-Team and Tait collected Second-Team honors. Tait won medalist honors at the CAA Championships with a four-shot victory over Perez-Narbon and Georgia State's Joanna Klatten. Viljoen was also selected CAA Scholar Athlete-of-the-Year.

The Seahawks finished as runner-up at the 2005-06 CAA Championships and posted three top-3 finishes. All-time great Michelle Jarman capped her career by earning First-Team All-CAA honors, qualifying as an individual to the NCAA East Regional and being named CAA Women’s Golf Scholar Athlete-of-the-Year. Stephanie Noser was also named First-Team All-CAA and became the first Seahawk to garner CAA Rookie-of-the-Year honors. Stephanie Otteson was named Second-Team All-CAA and five players – Jarman, Otteson, Viljoen, Christie Appleton and Alison Leeper – were named All-Scholar by the NGCA.

In 2004-05, the Seahawks racked up an NCAA berth in their first season in the CAA. UNCW also took home the championship of the Unlimited Potential/Bay Tree Classic behind Jarman, the medalist. On top of that, senior Becky Berzonski was named 2005 CAA Player-of-the-Year. Berzonski and Jarman earned First-Team All-CAA honors and Otteson was selected Second-Team. Jarman was tabbed the CAA Women’s Golf Scholar Athlete-of-the-Year and collected NGCA Scholar-Athlete accolades with Jarman, Berzonski, Otteson and Whitney Whaley.

Ho was BSC Coach-of-the-Year again during the 2003-04 campaign after guiding the Seahawks to team titles at the UNCW Seahawk Invitational and Richmond Spider Invitational en route to the team’s third straight Big South Conference crown. Berzonski captured BSC medalist honors, was named BSC Player-of-the-Year and was named to the All-Big South Team with Jarman and Amelie Farrah. Berzonski and Jarman also picked up NGCA honors.

In her first season with the Seahawks in 2002-03, Ho was named BSC Coach-of-the-Year after leading the Seahawks to team titles at The Unlimited Potential-Bay Tree Classic, LSU/Cleveland Classic and capturing their second consecutive league championship. BSC medalist Yunuen Sanchez was joined by Berzonski, Farrah, Jarman and Audrey Gale on the All-BSC Team. Gale was also tabbed BSC Rookie-of-the-Year.

A 1990 graduate of Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, Ho piloted Longwood University to two National Golf Coaches Association Division II National Championships in 1993 and 1995, along with the 1994 Eastern College Athletic Championship during her stay at the Virginia school from 1992-2002.

Along with the national titles, the Lancers posted three top-4 finishes at the NGCA National Championships and won 14 tournaments during Ho's tenure. Ten Lancers combined to earn 18 All-American honors and six players earned NGCA Academic All-Scholar honors. Ho was named NGCA Coach-of-the-Year in 1996 and 2001 and was named NGCA Division II East Regional Coach-of-the-Year in 2001.

As a player, Ho finished second at the 1986 Canadian Junior Championships and was ranked sixth and eighth in Canada in 1986 and 1985. She started 27 collegiate tournaments at Lamar and was runner-up at the SMU Mustangs Invitational in 1989. In 1988, Ho earned a spot on the British Columbia amateur team and sparked B.C. to runner-up finishes at the Canadian Women's Amateur and the Western Canadian Championship.

In 1995, Ho placed second in the Virginia Amateur Stroke Play and was a semifinalist in the Virginia Amateur.

Ho's interests include running, sculling and swimming. She completed the SunTrust Richmond Marathon in 2001, finishing just over 3 hours and 37 minutes, and has competed in numerous road races.